Call for Proposals Eacea N 17/2007

Call for proposals EACEA 19/2007 – TV Broadcasting

CALL FOR PROPOSALS – EACEA N° 19/2007

MEDIA 2007 Programme

Guidelines on the

Support for television broadcasting of european audiovisual works

1. INTRODUCTION

The EACEA Call for Proposals 19/2007 is based on Decision N° 1718/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006 concerning the implementation of a programme of support for the European audiovisual sector (MEDIA 2007) (ref. Official Journal N° L 327 of 24 November 2006, page 12).

The European Commission is responsible for the implementation of the MEDIA Programme and for the decision to grant individual European Community funds. The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency administers the MEDIA Programme on behalf of and under the control of the European Commission. The section responsible for the implementation of the Call for Proposals is the MEDIA Programme Unit, part of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (the Agency).

NB: The implementation of Call for proposals in 2008 is subject to the following condition:

The adoption of the European Union budget for the year 2008 by the budget authority. This condition does not depend solely on the Commission or the Agency.

2. OBJECTIVES

2.1.Objectives of the programme

The global objectives of the MEDIA 2007 programme are:

- to preserve and enhance European cultural and linguistic diversity and its cinematographic and audiovisual heritage, to guarantee its access to the public and to promote intercultural dialogue;

- to increase the circulation and viewership of European audiovisual works inside and outside the European Union, including through greater cooperation between players;

- to strengthen the competitiveness of the European audiovisual sector in the framework of an open and competitive European market favourable to employment, including by promoting links between audiovisual professionals.

The objectives of the programme in the field of distribution and dissemination include the following:

-to promote the transnational dissemination of European audiovisual works produced by independent production companies by encouraging cooperation between broadcasters on the one hand and independent producers and distributors on the other.

Particular attention will be paid to the development of potential in countries or regions with a low audiovisual production capacity and/or a restricted linguistic or geographical area.

2.2. Objectives of the support

This call for proposals is aimed at independent European TV production companies. It explains how to submit a proposal with a view to obtaining a financial contribution from the MEDIA 2007 Programme.

The support scheme's objective is to encourage independent producers to produce works (fiction, documentary and animated films) involving the participation of at least three broadcasters from several member states participating or co-operating in the programme.

Special attention will be given to audio-visual works that contribute to the enhancement of European heritage and linguistic and cultural diversity.

Support granted must contribute to speeding up the financing of productions selected by broadcasters and to strengthening independent production companies' rights over such works, thereby encouraging their subsequent exploitation.

3. TIMETABLE

The Call for ProposalsEACEA 19/2007 is open counting from the date of its publication in the Official Journal until 13/06/2008. It contains two deadlines. Applicants are invited to read carefully point 12.3 of the current Call for the procedure on the submission of applications.

To be included in the 1st deadline, the application for support must be sent to the Agency between the date of the publication of the Call for Proposals and 22/02/2008. Applicants will be informed of the results of this 1st deadline no later than during the month of June 2008.

To be included in the 2nd deadline, the application for support must be sent to the Agency between 23/02/2008 and 13/06/2008. Applicants will be informed of the results of this 2nd deadline no later than during the month of October 2008.

The relevant date is the date of posting (not the date of receipt by the Agency). The Agency cannot under any circumstances be held responsible for the shortcomings of courier services, and it is up to the applicant alone to ensure that the proposal is sent off in good time. In the event that there are any charges in the delivery of an application (postal, fiscal or other) the Agency cannot be held liable for them and will refuse to accept same.

The period of eligibility of costs starts 6 months before the date of the application and ends 24 months after the date of application (for series with more than 3 episodes and a total duration of more than 3 hours, the period ends 36 months after the date of the application). The maximum duration of the project is therefore 30 months (or 42 for series).All costs incurred before the period starting 6 months before the date of the application will not be considered as eligible.

However, if after the signing of the agreement and the start of the project it becomes impossible for the beneficiary, for fully justified reasons beyond his control, to complete the project within the scheduled period, an extension to the eligibility period may be granted. A maximum extension of 6 additional months may be granted, if requested before the deadline specified in the agreement. The maximum duration of the period of eligibility of costs will then be 36 months (or 48 months for series).

4. AVAILABLE BUDGET

The total budget allocated forco-financing projects within the framework of the Call for Proposals EACEA 19/2007 is estimated to be €7,5millions.

The financial contribution awarded can not exceed 12,5% of the total eligible costs for fiction and animation projects. The maximum financial contribution which may be awarded to fiction and animation projects is € 500000per work.

For documentaries, the financial contribution awarded can not exceed 20% of the total eligible costs and the maximum financial contribution which may be awarded is € 300000per work.

The Agency reserves the right not to award the entire available budget.

5. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Submissions that do not meet the following eligibility criteria will be eliminated during the first phase of selection.

The Agency reserves the right not to process proposals which lack the required documentation or information (documents listed in the application form) at the deadline.

5.1. Eligible companies

The present call is open to European and independent production companies.

An European production company is a company whose main activity is audiovisual production and which is registered in one of the Member States of the European Union or in one of the countries participating in the MEDIA 2007 Programme as defined in this Call for Proposals, and which is owned and continues to be owned, whether directly or by majority participation, by nationals from these countries.

An independent production company is an audiovisual production company which does not have majority control by a television broadcaster, either in shareholding or commercial terms. Majority control is considered to occur when more than 25% of the share capital of a production company is held by a single broadcaster (50% when several broadcasters are involved) or when, over a three-year period, more than 90% of a production company’s revenue is generated in co-operation with a single broadcaster.

Foundations, Institutes, Universities, Associations and other legal bodies acting in the public interest cannot apply.

The Agency reserves the right to apply these criteria, taking into account the specific characteristics of the television industry of the individual countries participating in the MEDIA 2007 Programme.

5.2. Legal entities

In order to demonstrate its existence as a legal person, the applicant must provide the following documents:

–bank details form, duly completed and signed,

–extract from the official gazette/trade register, and certificate of liability to VAT (if, as in certain countries, the trade register number and VAT number are identical, only one of these documents is required).

5.3. Eligible countries

Companies submitting an application must be established in one of the following countries:

- Member States of the European Union as of 1st January 2007;

- countries in the European Economic Area participating in the MEDIA 2007 Programme (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway);

- countries meeting the conditions laid down by Article 11 of Council Decision 2000/821/EC (Switzerland).

They must also be owned and continue to be owned, either directly or by majority shareholding, by nationals of these countries.

Countries with a low audiovisual production capacity

For the purposes of this Call for Proposals, the following countries will be considered as countries with a low audiovisual production capacity: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland.

Among these countries, the following countries are considered "New Member States": Bulgaria, Cyprus, CzechRepublic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

5.4. Eligible projects

5.4.1. European audiovisual programme

Any work of fiction (including animated films) or documentary, complying with the following conditions:

the work to be produced will be majority produced by companies established in one or more countries participating in the MEDIA Programme;

the work has a significant participation by professionals who are citizens and/or residents of the countries participating in the MEDIA Programme. Significant participation is defined as 10 or more points under the following scheme:

Fiction/Documentary / Points / Animation / Points
Director / 3 / Director / 3
Scriptwriter / 3 / Scriptwriter / 3
Composer / 1 / Composer / 1
Actor 1/ Voice over artist / 2 / Storyboard Artist / 2
Actor 2/ Voice over artist / 2 / Character Designer / 2
Actor 3/ Voice over artist / 2 / Animation Supervisor / 2
Artistic Director / 1 / Artistic Director / 1
Director of Photography / 1 / Technical Director / 1
Editor / 1 / Editor / 1
Sound / 1 / Sound / 1
Shooting location / 1 / Studio Location / 1
Laboratory / 1 / Laboratory / 1
Total / 19 / Total / 19

Audiovisual programmes consisting of advertising, pornographic or racist material or advocating violence, as well as programmes intended to promote an institution or its activities arenot eligible for support.

5.4.2. Category of projects

Production projects belonging to the following categories are eligible:

-Television fiction projects (individual projects or series) of a total duration of minimum 50 minutes. In order to be eligible, fiction projects must be made primarily for the purposes of television exploitation.

-Creative documentaries (individual projects and series) of a total duration of minimum 25 minutes. Creative documentaries are productions based on real subject matter but which require substantial original writing, in particular those setting out the point of view of a writer and/or a filmmaker. Creative documentaries based on archive footage are eligible. News programmes, magazines, talk-shows, reality-shows, docu-soaps, school and “how to” programmes are not considered eligible for support.

-animation (individual projects or series) of a total duration of minimum 25 minutes.

The number of applications per project is limited to two applications. Projects which were already submitted twice within this or a previous call for proposals for the TV Broadcasting support are ineligible for support.

Series and sequels

Projects which are designed to be a series with a joint marketing strategy have to be submitted as a series. It is not possible to split series into several parts, i.e. to submit single episodes as separate applications.

Sequels and series of episodes based in whole or in part on a previous project are ineligible for support.

Theatrical releases

For fiction and animation projects from countries with a low audiovisual production capacityfor which a national (and national only) theatrical release is forecast are eligible, however only if the theatrical release is done after an initial TV transmission.

For fiction and animation projects originating from UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, only clear television productions are eligible (i.e. no theatrical distributor attached, even a national distributor).

For documentaries, a theatrical release is also allowed prior to an initial TV transmission, regardless of the territory from which the project originates and the territory in which it will be released.However, the project has to have been originally intended for the television market. Projects originally intended as cinema projects (e.g. several theatrical distributors or an international cinema sales agent attached to the project), are ineligible.

Projects already financed by Eurimages are ineligible for support.

5.5. Other eligibility criteria

The following eligibility criteria shall apply:

The applicant company must be the majority producer of the work. In the case of co-productions, the co-producers have to designate one of the partners as delegate producer to be the contractual partner with the Agency. This delegate producer must be the majority co-production partner.

The application must be submitted within the following time period: at the earliest 6 months before the first day of principal photography and at the latest on the first day of principal photography.

The audiovisual work proposed must be an independent European television production (fiction, animation or creative documentary) involving the participation of at least three broadcasting companies established in the Member States of the European Union or in one of the countries participating in the MEDIA 2007 Programme.

For the purposes of this Call for Proposals a broadcaster is considered any company which, holding the broadcasting rights (terrestrial, via satellite or cable) to a film or an audiovisual programme for a given territory, is directly or as parent company responsible for its broadcast by determining the terms on which it is shown.

Internet Services are not considered to be an eligible television broadcaster.

In all cases, the broadcaster contribution must be above the following minimum thresholds in order to be eligible:

Broadcaster coming from: / Minimum % of total production budget
Fiction, Animation / Documentary
Big territories[1] / 1% / 0,5%
Countries with a low audiovisual production capacity[2] / 0,5% / 0,5%
New Member States[3] / 0,1% / 0,1%

The exploitation rights licensed to the broadcasters participating in the production have to revert to the producer after a maximum license period of :

-7 years if the broadcaster's participation takes the form of a pre-purchase;

-10 years if the broadcaster's participation also takes the form of a co-production. In this case, the contract between the producer and the broadcaster must clearly specify the price and licence term for the pre-purchase of the exploitation rights and the conditions for the co-production. A co-production between a broadcaster and a TV-producer is accepted by the Executive Agency only if the broadcaster takes a significant financial risk in the production and is involved in the total organisation and economic handling of the production. The Agency reserves the right to assess these circumstances on a case by case basis. In any case, the broadcaster can not be the majority co-producer of the work;

-The broadcasters' involvement needs to be proved by contracts or binding letters of commitment. These contracts or letters of commitment must clearly specify the licence price and the licence term. If the broadcaster's participation also takes the form of a co-production, the conditions of such co-producer's relationship must be specified.

At time of application, a minimum 50% of the financing of the budget of the project must be guaranteed from third party sources of finance (either through direct financing or by advance rights sales), proved by binding letters of commitment, including the project title, the exact amount of the financial contribution, the rights sold and the licence period. Contributions from broadcasters, distributors, public funds or co-producers are considered as third party sources of financing. The producer's own investment is not considered as a third party source of finance. If the project is co-produced by several production companies, a co-production contract (or deal-memo) indicating the share of financing, share of rights, share of costs and share of revenues, has to be submitted with the application.

Projects that are fully financed will not be considered eligible for support. Financing which is raised from private individuals is not considered as eligible.

The production budget must be minimum 50% financed by European sources (ie from MemberStates or countries participating to the MEDIA 2007 Programme).

5.6. Eligible proposals

Only proposals submitted on the official application forms, completed in full, signed (original signatures required) and received by the specified deadline, will be considered.

The application forms must be accompanied by documents attesting its financial and operational capacity, and all of the other documents referred to in the application form.

Applicants must submit a budget that is balanced in terms of expenditure and revenue and must comply with the ceiling for Community cofinancing, set at 12,5% of the eligible costs for fiction and animation projects and at 20% of the eligible costs for documentaries.

6. EXCLUSION CRITERIA

Applicants must state that they are not in any of the situations described in Articles 93 and 94 of the Financial Regulation applicable to the General Budget of the European Communities (Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002) and set out below.

Applicants will be excluded from participating in the Call for Proposals if they are in any of the following situations:

a)they are bankrupt or being wound up, are having their affairs administered by the courts, have entered into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended business activities, are the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or are in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations;

b)they have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a judgment which has the force of res judicata;

c)they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the contracting authority can justify;

d)they have not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which they are established or with those of the country of the contracting authority or those of the country where the contract is to be performed;

e)they have been the subject of a judgment which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity detrimental to the Communities' financial interests;

f)following another procurement procedure or grant award procedure financed by the Community budget, they have been declared to be in serious breach of contract for failure to comply with their contractual obligations.